July 31st, 1998
By: Robert Leidy

In 1994 I made a very costly mistake, I had some extra money burning a hole in my pocket and decided to buy myself an in-dash CD player and Polk speakers for my Ford Explorer. As I was picking out the CD player the salesman made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a Polk subwoofer that was about to be discontinued. I left the vehicle with them and it was ready later that afternoon. The system sounded awesome but now I recognize what a costly mistake that stereo system was because it forever changed my appreciation for car audio.

In 1996 I found myself with a hard decision to make, I had just driven a Z3 for about a week (dealer loaner) and I really wanted one. While struggling with the decision if I should stick with the Explorer or go for the Z3, the upgraded stereo system almost kept me in that Explorer. However the allure of the BMW Z3 was just too much for me, so in October of 1996 I took delivery of a 1.9 liter BMW Z3.

The stock stereo lasted until February of 1997, with spring weather approaching I decided it was time to upgrade it. Once I had upgraded/fixed the stereo in that Z3 I was pleased with the sound. It didn't have the deep bass my Explorer had, but the system was very powerful and clean. It could be heard with the top down at highway speed and always sounded great.

In 1998 I had another decision to make, BMW had just released the new 3.2 liter M roadster and the allure of a new muscle bound version of my Z3 was just too much to pass up. I sold my 1.9 Z3 to a friend and purchased the new 3.2 M roadster. The M roadster came with a much better stock stereo system than the original 1.9 Z3 came with. This new HK (Harmon Karmon) stereo was much cleaner and better sounding, in fact I had actually decided that it was "good enough" and didn't need to be upgraded. I drove around with the stock HK system for three months and never even added a CD player to it.

However the stock HK system suffered a set back when I got to hear my old 1.9 Z3's stereo system again (I see the current owner about once a month at a poker game). I had forgotten how much better and cleaner the stereo could sound. Top up or top down it didn't matter because that system had enough power to be heard. The desire for a better stereo and a CD player in my 3.2 M roadster had infected me.

As fate would have it another M owner that I keep in touch with on a regular basis got a deal with a stereo manufacturer to be a show car for a/d/s/ stereo equipment. On almost a daily basis I got to hear the ongoing saga of what they were doing to his car, what kind of equipment they were using, what speakers sizes were fitting into the various locations. This was just too much for me to bare, I decided to start looking into upgrading/fixing the stock HK stereo system. The first step was to figure out as many details as I could about the stock HK stereo system.

Researching the stock HK stereo system